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Days, Months, and Years — Les jours, les mois, et les années by Dawn-Michelle Baude, Ph.D.

The French names of the days of the week are based on ancient Roman mythology. The French word for “moon” is lune, so Monday becomes lundi, or the moon's day. Tuesday is named after the god Mars, so Tuesday is mardi. Wednesday is dedicated to Mercury, so it's called mercredi. Thursday is Jupiter's day, so in French it's jeudi, while Friday is for Venus, so it's vendredi. Saturday is named after Saturn, so it's samedi. And Sunday is for the sun, which the Romans described as the day of the sun and which came to mean “day of the lord,” or dimanche.

Instead of starting the week with Sunday, French kids name the days of the week starting with Monday. Check out the following list:

<tgroup cols="2" align="center"> <colspec colnum="1" colname="col1" colsep="0" rowsep="0" colwidth="50%" align="left"/> <colspec colnum="2" colname="col2" colsep="0" rowsep="0" colwidth="50%" align="left"/> <thead> <row rowsep="1"> <td><p>English</p></td> <td><p>French</p></td> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td><p>Monday</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>lundi</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>Tuesday</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>mardi</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>Wednesday</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>mercredi</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>Thursday</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>jeudi</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>Friday</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>vendredi</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>Saturday</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>samedi</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>Sunday</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>dimanche</emphasis></p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <p>The months in French are just like the ones in English. The same letters are in both the English and French words. When words from different languages share the same group of letters, we usually say they share the same “root.” Look at the following table and circle the shared root in both the English and French month words:</p> <table frame="none" width="100%"> <title/> <tgroup cols="2" align="center"> <colspec colnum="1" colname="col1" colsep="0" rowsep="0" colwidth="50%" align="left"/> <colspec colnum="2" colname="col2" colsep="0" rowsep="0" colwidth="50%" align="left"/> <thead> <row rowsep="1"> <td><p>English</p></td> <td><p>French</p></td> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td><p>January</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>janvier</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>February</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>février</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>March</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>mars</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>April</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>avril</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>May</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>mai</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>June</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>juin</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>July</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>juillet</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>August</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>août</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>September</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>septembre</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>October</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>octobre</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>November</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>novembre</emphasis></p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>December</p></td> <td><p><emphasis>décembre</emphasis></p></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <!--/gc--> <div id="pagination"><ul><li class="prev"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/time-and-dates-lheure-et-les-dates/asking-about-time-demander-lheure.htm" title="Asking about Time — Demander l´heure">Asking about Time — Demander l´heure</a></li><li class="next"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/time-and-dates-lheure-et-les-dates/what-is-todays-date-quelle-est-la-date-daujourdhui.htm" title="What Is Today's Date? 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— Quelle est la date d'aujourd'hui?</a></li> </ul><ul class="col2"><li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/time-and-dates-lheure-et-les-dates/parts-of-the-days-and-year-les-moments-de-la-journe-et-de-lanne.htm">Parts of the Days and Year — Les moments de la journée et de l'année</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/time-and-dates-lheure-et-les-dates/weather-le-temps.htm">Weather — Le temps</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/time-and-dates-lheure-et-les-dates/holidays-and-birthdays-ftes-et-anniversaires.htm">Holidays and Birthdays — Fêtes et anniversaires</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/time-and-dates-lheure-et-les-dates/time-questions-questions-sur-la-date-et-le-temps.htm">Time Questions — Questions sur la date et le temps</a></li> </ul></ul></div> </div> <script>if(zSbL<1)zSbL=3;zSB(2);zSbL=0</script> </div> <div id="widgets"><script type="text/javascript">if(z336>0){w('<div id="adB">'+ap[0]+at[4]+as[0]);adunit('','','about.com',ch,gs,336,280,'1','bb',3);w('</div>')}if(z155>0){w('<div id="adP">'+ap[0]+at[4]+as[0]);adunit('','','about.com',ch,gs,336,155,'1','ps',4);w('</div>')}</script> <div id="pg" class="pane"><div class="n3">Shopping</div><div class="cntnr"><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-kids-learning-french-book"><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/np/kids-french/Cover.jpg"></a><h4><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-kids-learning-french-book">THE EVERYTHING KIDS' LEARNING FRENCH BOOK</a></h4><p><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-kids-learning-french-book">By Dawn-Michelle Baude, Ph.D.</a></p><div id="fp"><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-kids-learning-french-book">Buy This Book</a></div></div></div> <div id="toc" class="pane"><div class="n3">French for Kids Sections</div><ul><li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/lets-get-started-allons-y/">Let's Get Started! — Allons-y!</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/time-and-dates-lheure-et-les-dates/">Time and Dates — L'heure et les dates</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/all-about-me-tout-sur-moi/">All About Me — Tout sur moi</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/social-life-la-vie-sociale/">Social Life — La vie sociale</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/kids-french/what-should-we-do-quest-ce-quon-va-faire/">What Should We do? 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